


Boy In The Bubble

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Multi, Other, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker isn’t spiderman, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-02-29 18:11:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18783475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Peter Parker is troubled. His abusive dad is finally dead. He's been on the run from child services for two months now. Then he gets in a fight, and life finally catches up.





	1. the one where tony stark saves his ass

 Peter Parker went to a shitty public high school in the rough part of Queens, the smell of weed filled the halls and the occasional heroin needle was found on the boy's bathroom floor. Peter wiped his nose with his sweatshirt sleeve, the sting from the magic powder last night still partially fresh in his sensitive nostrils. He kept his head down, his once fluffy brown curls matted down by grease and dirt from the lack of a working shower where he lives. 

Peter's day went pretty normally, fall asleep in his first four periods, snort some coke in the boy's bathroom during lunch, and mindlessly doodle in his singular note book for his last two periods. His day was going perfectly fine and he was about to walk "home" before some random dick ran right into him. 

"What the hell? Watch where you're fucking going!" The guy yelled, pushing the very skinny Peter Parker back. 

"Chill out, motherfucker, I'm just walking home." Peter said, stumbling backwards, before launching forward in attempts to tackle the much bigger guy. 

Peter's small figure was no match to the bulky guy he just tried to tackle. The guy pushed Peter back and socked Peter right in the nose, Peter heard a  _crack_   as he stumbled back. Peter began throwing punches at the boy, someone must've seen the fight because before he knew it Peter was being pulled back and a cold metal was being snapped around his wrists. 

"Let me go! Let me go!" Peter was screaming at the top of his lungs. 

"Let's get this kid to the station, find his guardian, or something." He heard the cop mutter to another one. ' _Fuck, I don't have a guardian.'_ Peter immediately went into full blown panic mode. He struggled at kicked at screamed and tried to push away from the cops. 

"Please let me go!" He was screaming, on the verge of tears, being pushed into the back of a cop car. He was so fucked, so fucking fucked, he was gonna be put into the system, that's the last thing he wanted. 

*****************

Tony Stark was just flying around New York, it was about 4 pm, he was flying over Queens when he heard blood curdling screams coming from the streets down below. 

"FRIDAY, what's going on?"

"It looks like a 15 year old boy under the name Peter Parker has just been arrested after getting into a fight with one Wade Wilson." 

"Are the kid's Parents informed of this?"

"Peter Parker has no legal guardians alive, hes an orphan, and it looks like he's been on the run for about two months now, Boss."

"Tag the cop car, girl, let's get this figured out." 

 "Already on it, Boss."

******************

"Kid, I'm sorry, I can't let you go. Social Services has been trying to find you for two months."

"Please, you can't let them take me, no one will want me, I'll end up on the streets anyway!" Peter was practically begging, a wet rag pushed against his broken nose and his eyes wet with tears. 

The cop opened his mouth to speak but before he could even mutter a word the doors of the police station burst open. All the officer's heads whipped around, their eyes grew wide when they saw the Tony Stark walking into the station. 

"I'm looking for Peter Parker." He said in a big voice, searching around the station, FRIDAY scanning all the faces in the station before finally picking up on the teen's face. 

"There you are kid! I was so worried about you!" Tony holds his arm open, Peter stood, confused, giving the billionaire an unsure hug. 

"Just go with it." Tony whispered in Peter's ear. The 15 year old nodded quickly, jumping right on to the act. 

"Thank you so much for finding him, he ran out on me and Pepper a few day's ago, scared the shit out of us." Tony smiled at the officers, ruffling Peter's greasy hair.

"Sorry, Tony." Peter said in a small voice. 

"We've been trying to get custody over him for the past two months, but the paper work just keeps piling up. I'm super sorry he's been causing trouble, I'll sign what you need me to and we'll be on our way." 

The officers were in so much shock they just nodded their head. Within the hour Peter and Tony were in a car on their way to the Avenger's tower. 

"You really didn't have to do that, Mr. Stark." Peter said in a small voice, was slumped down in the car hands in his hoodie pocket, fidgeting with the small baggy of coke between his fingers, itching to get another line into his system. 

"I know I didn't, but I don't think you understand that you've been getting yourself into deep shit for the past two months." 

"I could've handled it." Peter said, his words slurred, the coke from earlier was starting to wear off. 

"Are you actually fucking high right now?" 

"What the fuck? No!" Peter shot up, making his head ache, "I'm not a fucking druggie!" 

"Something about the fact you reek of weed, cigarettes, and booze is telling me otherwise, kid." Tony commented sharply. Peter huffed, not even trying to fight back at this point.

His eyelids began to get heavy, and before he knew it, we was out. 


	2. the one where he wakes up in an actual bed

Peter didn't know how, but he woke up in a bed, like an actual, nice, comfortable bed. He heard a strange beeping and low voices. 

"Harley, I really don't know if he's gonna wake up. He had a lot of drugs in his system, and he took a beating before I got to him." He heard Tony Stark's voice sigh. Peter then felt a soft hand brush his long curls off of his sweaty forehead, the contact made Peter flinch, causing his eyes to flutter open. The first person he saw was a boy (nurse?) that was about 16 in all white with big blue eyes staring at him, before Peter could even try to speak, the nurse held a glass of water to his dry lips.

"You need to drink this whole glass before you can even think about speaking, Peter." The boy said as softly as he could. 

Harley was trained to work with traumatized children as well has help with rehabilitating young people. Tony offered to fund Harley's training and after two years of hard studying and graduating early from his training school Tony hired Harley to work part time in the medical wing of the tower as well as live with Tony in the Compound over the summer. Harley also attended Midtown high school just so the kid had something to do during the day.  Tony was so thankful to have Harley working at Stark Towers because in this very moment, he wouldn't have been able to help Peter, there are no other Doctors in the medical wing with Harley's training. 

Peter looked at Harley with giant doe eyes, a look of pure awe covered his face. It made Tony's chest tighten to even think Peter didn't know that it was possible to be treated to kindly.  Harley smiled kindly at Peter while he replaced the IV in the younger's arm, Harley told Peter when and where he was going to touch the younger. When it was time for Peter to take a shower, Harley helped him get out of the hospital bed, and arm resting carefully on the weak boy's waist in an attempt to help hold him up on the way to the bathroom. 

Harley emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, he pushed his curls out of his face and plopped down next to Tony, 

"He's a lot worse than I thought. He's severely malnourished and is covered in bruises and scars, something has got to have happened to him." Harley sighed, resting his head on Tony's shoulder. "I don't know if i can help him, Tony." Harley mumbled.

Tony patted the top of Harley's head, "He'll be ok, kid, this is what you were trained for, isn't it?" Harley just nodded. Then, Pepper walked in, 

"Is he awake? Harley are you ok?" Pepper immediately rushed to Harley, sitting next to him and pulling the teenager against her side, kissing the top of his head. "You look exhausted, Har." She said to him softly, she was right, Harley sighed and nodded, 

"I am, but I can't leave Peter until I know he's stable enough to survive at least 12 hours without me in here." 

"Tony and I can take care of him to. You need to get some sleep, dear." 

Harley nodded, rubbing his eyes before kissing the top of Pepper's head and wandering out of the room. 

Not even a minute later, a weak and bony teenage boy walked into the room, seemingly frantic to find something, 

"You're not gonna find it kid, that shit's been gone for almost a week." Tony said, looking Peter up and down, noticing the scars and bruises Harley was talking about. The kid was wearing a pear of SI sweats and no shirt, his hair looked so much lighter and curlier now that all the grease was out of it, the bags under his eyes were a dark purple on his pale skin. His ribs stuck out so far and his collar bones were unhealthily prominent. 

“Fuck.” The kid muttered, his hands shot quickly to his hair, where his skinny fingers twisted and pulled at the damp curls. 

The kid kept muttering to himself until Pepper finally walked up to him. 

“Hey, you’re ok, can I hug you?” She spoke softly to him, a look of sympathy prominent on her features. 

Peter nodded softly before not launching himself into the woman’s arms.


	3. the one where he starts at Midtown

Peter was kept in the isolation ward for another week, everyday consists of him staring blankly at a wall for 12 hours, eat three meals a day, and listen to Harley try to have a conversation with him. He wanted to say he was getting better, but he really wasn't, his withdraw hit him like a fucking 18 wheeler truck, his body ached and his head was pounding. Harley wouldn't get off of Peter's ass about drinking water and eating enough, all Peter wanted to do was fall asleep and never wake up.

"Rise and shine sunshine, you've got a long day ahead of you." The not so familiar voice of Tony Stark echoed through the almost empty hospital room. Peter groaned loudly, covering his head with a pillow and giving Tony a middle finger to the face. 

"Whoa, chill out kid, get up, we have some business to address." Behind Tony was Harley, holding one of his own sweatshirts and a new pair of black jeans under his arm. Peter reluctantly rolled out of bed, slowing taking to clothes and shuffling to the bathroom. He slowly slid off his SI sweats and pulled the Jeans and sweatshirt on. The sweatshirt smells really good, it smelled like coffee grounds and a hint of vanilla, the smell was beyond calming to the smaller boy, it smelled like  _home._

Tony had already left the room but Harley was sitting on Peter's hospital bed. "Mr. Stark wants the avengers to meet you, since you will be staying with us for a while." 

Peter just nodded, allowing Harley to lead him out of the hospital wing. He could hear the ruckus coming from the seeming large room ahead of him and Harley. When Harley opened the door, however, the room went dead silent. Harley slowly motioned Peter to come beside him, once the smaller boy was next to him, Harley turned his head to the boy.

"I'm gonna walk you to your seat, may I touch your back?" Peter nodded meekly, feeling Harley's warm hand rest gently on the small of his back, before walking towards a couch farther away from the large crowd of super heroes who had slowly began to socialize with one another again. Harley often talked to Peter no matter where they were, he would explain the situation and where the were at all times. His voice was soft, and deep, an so welcoming. Peter hated to admit it, but he couldn't be more thankful for Harley in situations like this. Peter being in a room with more than three other people was a rare occurrence, but when it happened, Harley was always right by his side.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! If I could please have your attention!" Tony clapped, standing up on the coffee table, "I have someone I want to introduce to you!" Tony turned to Peter, giving him a kind smile, motioning for Peter to come to him. Peter walked over to Tony, "This, is Peter Parker, and Pepper and I have decided to adopt him!" 

The crowd of people cheered and Peter looked at Tony with wide, tear filled eyes. "Really?" 

"Yeah kid, you don't belong in the system, hell, child services couldn't even keep up with you. It would be the safest if you were here, with people who are more than willing to help you heal." 

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." Peter said softly, hugging Tony softly, "Thank you." 

"It's really no problem, you have a lot of spirit, kid." 

**********************

**Two Months Later**

"Peter! Could you come downstairs for a second?" Pepper yelled up into Peter's room. 

"Yeah mom! hold on!" Peter yelled down before turning back to the bathroom shelf, medicine lining the shelves, Peter's skinny finger ran over the paper on the medicine bottles  until he found the one he wanted, grabbing it quickly and dumping two of the pills into his hand, immediately popping them into his mouth, dry swallowing them. 

Peter hopped down the stairs, he was greeted by the now 17 year old Harley and his mom sitting at the island, eating his Uncle Steve's pancakes.

"Hey Harley, hi mom." Peter smiled at the two, pressing a kiss on his mom's temple before plopping next to Harley, who subtly slid his hand into Peter's. Peter smiled at Harley, the two boys had become very close friends recently, and eventually became beyond attached to his best friend. While the three were eating breakfast, Tony finally plopped down the stairs. 

"Morning kid! Ready for your first day at fancy science high school ?" Tony greeted his son happily, kissing Peter's curly mop of hair. 

"mornin' dad." Peter smiled softly at his dad, "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." 

"Oh, come on! You'll be fine Pete! Besides, I'll be with you!" Harley nudged Peter's shoulder with his own, smiling at the younger boy.

Peter smiled back at Harley, a warm feeling filled his chest, he thinks it was just the pills kicking in. 

****************

"Welcome to Midtown high school, or as I like to call it, hell, but with science." Harley led Peter into midtown, Peter looked around in awe with his signature doe eyes "Hey Bambi, your cute side is showing." Harley goggled at Peter when the sophomore furrowed his brows in an attempt to scowl at Harley. 

"I'm not cute, I'm scary." 

"Whatever you say, Bambi." Peter blushed furiously at the nickname that Harley started calling Peter after his first month in the compound. Harley laughed at the boy, nudging him with his elbow as they walked into the large school. 

Peter had a death grip on Harley's arm, but he'd never actually admit that. Peter was quickly pushed away from Harley when a sea of girls crowded around the boy. Peter huffed in annoyance and made his way to the front office on his own. 

After finally getting his locker number and his new schedule, Peter sulked all the way to his first period, his spirits were lifted after Harley walked in and plopped down next to Peter, slinging an arm the younger's shoulder, "Hey Bambi, how did a sophomore like you end up in a junior AP chemistry class, huh?" Peter rolled his eyes at Harley, not trying to hide the smile that had spread across Peter's face.

"And how did a dumb ass like you end up in an AP class?" Peter quipped back quickly, nudging at Harley's side with his shoulder. 

Yeah. He was gonna be ok. 


	4. The one where he goes missing

Ok. So maybe he was wrong.

Peter was having a pretty good day, Harley only took a few classes at Midtown since he has technically studied everything he already needed to to graduate, so the kid had like three free periods.

Peter made a new friend named Ned in his engineering class as well as find out they’re going on a field trip to OSCORP, which was super sick. 

His day was going smooth until he was walking to his class after lunch when he was slammed against the lockers by a large body. 

“Hey, Parker right? I saw you walk in with my buddy Harley, I don’t appreciate you hanging onto his arm like a lost puppy, I’d recommend you stay away from him.” A guy with dark hair and a hideous half grown in mustache pushed Peter up against the lockers hard. The painkillers Peter took earlier were wearing off, so he felt the painful pressure of the hard metal against his shoulder blades. 

“Dude, chill the fuck out, I live with the guy." Peter said through clenched teeth. Trying his best to push the kid off of him,

"Yeah, right you live with Harley Keener, who lives with and works for Tony Stark, I totally believe you, man." The guy said in a sarcastic tone, spitting on Peter's face. That was enough for Peter to lose his cool. He grabbed the guy's collar and used all of his body force to turn them around so Peter was pushing the guy into the lockers. 

"Test me, motherfucker. I. Dare. You." Peter growled at the older guy. The guy swung a fist at him, Peter took a hard blow to the face but quickly returned it twice as hard, knocking the kid off of his feet. Peter breathed heavily, looking around before taking off, home. 

********

”Mr. Harley.” 

FRIDAY’s voice echoed through Harley’s lab,

”hey girl, what’s going on?” 

“It seems Mr. Parker’s heart rate has risen to somewhat concerning levels, I’d recommend getting him early from school.”

Harley took a deep breath, setting down his tools. Then turning in his heel and making his way to the garage level. 

He made his way to the school, walking up to the front office.

”Mr. Harley! What re you doing here? I thought you had finished your classes for the day?” 

“Yeah I did, just here to pick up Peter Paker?” 

The woman’s face fell,

”sugar, Peter’s been absent since lunch, we thought he was with you.” 

“Shit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this chapter is so short. It’s more of a filler so I don’t leave y’all hanging for too long w/o a new chapter. <3


	5. The one where he (accidentally) falls in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind icky, there is an vivid description of drugs use and an overdose is mentioned.

Peter ran like hell. All the way back to Queens. All the way  _home_ all the way home to the abandoned apartment, where his grew up, here he almost died, where his dad died. He walked into the old building with no problem, found his apartment with ease, and he was home, strewn out on the floor surrounded in booze and drugs. 

That night he found his old friend, a metal spoon, a dirty needle, and a belt. He felt the heavenly substance run through his veins, he breathed out, a bottle of jack clenched in his left hand, his right arm limp by his side, belt still tight on his upper arm. Once his body adjusted to the substance, he pushed himself off of the ground, searching the unfurnished room for something more, something  _stronger,_ Tony took his last bag of his good coke, but he's sure he had some cheaper stuff somewhere around here. Ah-Ha! Found it! There was a lot more than he had originally thought, but he wasn't complaining. He dumped the entire bag out onto a pallet of wood separating it sloppily with his skinny pinkie finger. He pressed his nose roughly against the white powder, then again, and again, and again, until the large bag was empty. He huffed, wiping his nose, too high to realize his hand was covered in blood from his nose as he popped open an old container of painkillers, taking all of them. HE took a large swing of the Jack Daniels, before laying back down on the floor. Finally, some peace. 

**********  
The phone started ringing at 3 am, Tony and Harley were pacing the Tower when it rang, causing the two to jump. 

"FRI, The phone please."

"Of course, Boss."

"Hello?"

"Is this Tony Stark?"

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Hello Mr. Stark, I am officer Pete with the NYPD, We got a call earlier tonight about a teenage boy entering an unsafe apartment building. When we arrived, we found a boy around 15 year old unconscious on the third floor. We found alarming amounts of Cocaine, Heroin, and Opioids, in his system, we brought him back to the HQ in Queens and searched him. He has a level ten Pass to get into your tower."

"What's his name?"

Harley interjected, 

"The badge says Peter Parker, you know him?"

"Yeah, yeah I know him, that's my kid. I'll be down in 20. Make sure he doesn;t get out."

"I don't think he's going anywhere for a while. Mr. Stark." 

**********

”Fuck, I haven’t even had the kid for six months and he’s already run off.” 

“It’s ok Tony, he’s just, he was homeless before you, right? It must’ve been a huge change for him.” 

“If this is really Peter, he almost died from an overdose.” 

Tony was breathing heavily, running his hands through his hair anxiously. 

“My kid just overdosed. Holy shit my kid just overdosed.” 


End file.
